TOP CYBERSECURITY TOOLS TO ENSURE YOUR DIGITAL PRIVACY

The report of recent research by leading VPN service provider, ExpressVPN, indicates that many internet users take the security of their privacy seriously. The findings further reveal that three-quarters of the interviewees want to do more.

What measures can you take to ensure that your digital privacy is secure? This post walks you through tools some might not know about already but are effective and some other effective security tools that are more popular.

3 effective cybersecurity tools that not many people know about

  • The onion router (Tor)

The Tor network protects your privacy whenever you are online through a data encryption process that masks the real identities of senders and recipients of online correspondences. To use the Tor network, you will need a browser known as Tor browser.

Though its performance is slightly different from the popular browsers like chrome and firefox, it has an easy to use interphase and is a smooth gateway to .onion sites.

In addition to enabling you anonymous access to the web, the Tor network also supports peer to peer file sharing. This ensures that your sensitive files are sent to the intended recipient without being intercepted by an untrustworthy intermediary.

  • Browser plug-ins

You can also heighten your security by installing plugins that are privacy-focused. Of the 3000 respondents, only less than half knew something about the extensions used to block trackers and cookies.

There are plenty of free plugins to help secure your online privacy. Take uBlock Origin as an example. This browser add-on helps block ads which in most cases contain malicious programs that track your activities.

Disconnect is another reliable pay-as-you-want privacy-based browser extension. Like uBlock Origin, disconnect shows you the exact activities that are happening during a browsing session. It also enables you to differentiate between social media trackers and e-commerce ones.

With this, you can choose which trackers or cookies to allow or deny access.

You can also use canvas defender to stay safe from browser fingerprinting. Browser fingerprinting is a modern tracking technique in which internet users are tracked using the information and configuration settings that they make available to different websites.

  • Account breach monitoring software

To check the status of your privacy, use an account breach monitoring software. These are privacy tools handy in timely detection of stolen identities and impersonation.

The systems of a breach monitoring software are also designed to identify any malware activities within your network. For instance, Have I Been Pwned helps you identify if any of your email accounts or passwords have been breached.

5 other privacy tools you should use

  • Password manager

A strong password is the most basic way of securing your accounts and devices. Sometimes, creating and remembering complex passwords can be an uphill task. You can achieve the intended results with less effort using a password manager.

good password manager service helps with the generation of strong passwords, retrieving and storing them. The safe storage secures your passwords from hackers and other third parties.

  • Email scanners

Email scanners protect you from attacks which capitalize on email vulnerabilities. The service scans for malicious software, links, and attachments in the contents of all incoming and outgoing emails.

Detected threats are blocked and or quarantined before they infiltrate your network. The timely review helps keep at bay: attacks (e.g ransomware) contained in malicious URLs and attachments.

See Also: How To Enable Extensions In Incognito

  • A Virtual Private Network

One of the simplest ways of achieving digital security is by downloading a VPN to protect your privacy. VPNs are easy to download, install, and configure but most importantly, very reliable in blocking censorship and spying.

A reliable VPN service encrypts all user traffic before releasing it for transmission. For ultimate security, it is advisable to go for a VPN that works across all your internet devices, that is, computers, smartphones, tablets, and so on. This way, your data will be safe even when you are on shared networks such as public Wi-Fi which are a breeding ground for hackers and other cybercriminals.

  • Security-based browsers and search engines

Security-based browsers and search engines are other reliable tools to secure your internet privacy. Unlike the regular browsers and search engines, these tools do not share your internet data (cache, location, passwords and other browsing habits) with advertisers or other third parties. You can try out Duckduckgo, chromium or the modified firefox.

In a bid to measure up, other mainstream browsers such as chrome are now transforming their services by allowing URL filtering protections.

  • Security oriented messaging apps

You can also opt to use secure messaging applications as an alternative to the vulnerable email correspondences.

Messaging apps such as Keybase, Wire, and Signal are free but they offer high-end encryption standards which ensure that your message contents are safe from intruders. You can also subscribe to other paid services such as Threema.

Threema is available for Android and iOS, while all the rest have versions that are compatible with; Android, iOS, Linux and Windows.

Conclusion

You deserve to have reliable security measures in place. The call is on you to choose the ideal one that protects your data and devices. Fortunately, for you, you can keep off snoopers and prying eyes using one of the many tools discussed above. While some can work independently, other cybersecurity tools need to be combined for better results.

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